Peaceful Pathway☮

So it has been quite a while since my last detailed blog post, sorry about that! Things have been pretty crazy recently! Let me back track to about a couple of weeks ago and my visit to Pandamatenga.   I had one of the best weeks of my life!   The transportation up there was a little unnecessary…15 hours in a crammed bus with hardly any pit stops was just too much to handle in one day.   But when I did get to Panda (which was just two silos and a dirt road), Christina and her boyfriend Coenie were waiting for me.   They then took me to a local lodge where we immediately saw an entire herd of sable.   It was beautiful.   Then, right as we were sitting down to eat; I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.   Out in the distance was a giraffe drinking water. It was so surreal!   The rest of the week seemed to fly by.   But in the course of only a couple days, I visited a local women’s group meeting, walked to Zimbabwe, gardened wit...

I've discovered where I will be living for the next two years! Gobojango is my home from now on =) Below is a picture of my own, one-bedroom house that I will have allllllll to myself! (it is the house on the left) I'm about 15 km from Zimbabwe and very close to the Northern Tuli Game Preserve/Safari Area.  I will definitely update later when I have more time, but for now, here is a navigable link of my future home village. Thinking about you all always! <3 Nina

So, this weekend I will actually wash my clothes can you believe it!! Haha, there are no washer machines so I'm learning the good ol' fashion way, with a little elbow grease and hanging wire.  Today we spent the majority of the morning under a mesh tarp learning how to perma-garden (those of you who are interested can click the link for more info).  I didn't want to be one of the trainees sitting on the side watching everyone else doing the work so I jumped right in with a shovel and dug a 6ftx3ftx1ft sized hole.  That was considered our "first dig", then we continued with pick-axes and dug even deeper, softened the hard red clay, and added dried chicken manuer to provide nutrients to the dry dirt.  Finally, after re-filling the hole, carving a damn around the large mound of dirt, and adding more chicken manuer, we planted two rows of spinach! Throughout the process, I became filthy.  Like no lie, my legs are seriously orange right now. But it was fun! I hope...

I'm sorry it has taken so long for me to update! I only have 11 minutes left on my internet time so I'll make this a rather quick update to my life the past few weeks. I'm currently living in a village called Kanye.  It is "winter time" and although the nights get pretty chilly, the weather is quite tolerable! I'm staying with a 79 year old woman and her 102 year old mother! I do most of the cooking and as such have learned to make many local meals consisting of sourghum, mealy meal, brown flour, and other yummies found throughout the village center. I'm learning more and more in Setswana, in fact, my given Setswana name is "Kitso Nare". -->Kitso meaning knowledge -->Nare meaning buffalo Haha! I've learned that keeping a good sense of humor has the ability to tackle any situation. Next week I will be able to shadow another volunteer in the northern region of the country! Because I'm traveling to a region found "above the malar...

Well, it's now safe to say that I'm officially considered a Peace Corps trainee! Today marks my second day in Philadelphia, and my successful completion of staging.  Can you believe it? Tomorrow morning (at 2a.m.) We're heading to JFK on a bus and flying to Johannesburg, South Africa.  After a few hour layover, we finally head out to Gaborone, Botswana. My roommate and newly acquired best friend Tate and I have been in almost a state of denial, to the point where, during training, we would look at each other and assure ourselves that this indeed was real life.  I can hardly believe it...I am moving to Africa on Wednesday.  Real life. I can't say this transition has been easy. In fact, reading through all of the comments on my facebook status have left me teary eyed more times than not.  But I can say that I've finally come to terms with the fact that this is where I need to be.  Honestly, I'm already homesick and it's only the second day out....

Four more days! Four more days and it still doesn't feel like reality...I had one of the best going-away parties I could ask for last Sunday.  My friends and family who were here warmed my heart so greatly, I felt so honored to have so many amazing people in my life.  Pictures will be up soon. On that note, I was looking through the pictures of our cruise a couple weeks ago and had a mini-meltdown.  Where did the time go?  Often, while I'm trying to sleep at night and the blackness has enveloped my room, I'm taken aback at the fact that my dad came home more than a month ago and I still feel as if I haven't had enough time with him, or my mom, or Geoff, or anyone else for that matter.  So many things are happening right now at home that I almost feel obligated to stay. But then I remind myself why I'm doing this, and find solace in the fact that I'll see my whole family on Sunday one last time for Easter.  If there were any better time to ...

How do you prepare for a two-year-long trip with a two-bag, eighty pound limit? The Peace Corps has sent me an overload of information, and as I arrange all of my loan deferments, insurance priorities, power of attorney information, and everything else I never could have imagined, I’m making sure to spend time with those I love and eat my favorite foods.   I now leave in less than a month, can you believe it?! I think the full effect has still yet to hit me.   TJ and Mark arrive tomorrow afternoon (woohoo!) for a quick visit to Colorado.   Then, March 18, they leave and I will depart with my mom, dad, and brother to Los Angeles for our last family vacation for a while.   We arrive back home on the 25 th , my going away party is on the 1 st of April, my last day of work is April 3 rd , then I leave April 9 th /10 th . Boom boom boom, and just as quickly as this process started, I will be living in Africa…… Say what!?? Last weekend I met a wonderful girl named ...